"DONKEY-WORK"

Borrow, in The Bible in Spain, describes
how he once bought a donkey from a
Spanish gipsy.

The gipsy who was showing off the ani-
mal's paces leaped on its back and whis-
pered something in its ear, and Borrow,
amazed at its speed and agility, readily
made the purchase. As soon as he had
his money the gipsy vanished, and when
Borrow himself got into the saddle the
donkey refused to budge, except to pitch
him off into the mud. He got up and
looked about, and there stood the donkey
staring at him, as were the rest of the
gipsies. He shouted at them to tell him
where was the man from whom he had
bought the donkey. But there was little
to be gained by shouting. Donkey and
master had played him a rascally trick—
not for the first time, we may be sure.

Unable to do anything with his mount,
Borrow was forced to sell it again im-

mediately. One of the gipsies bought it
for a trifle, and Borrow lost money over
the transaction. It was all a ruse. The
donkey would be returned to its master
and the gipsies would share the spoil
between them.

In Palestine the ass is very useful to
the farmer. It will tread the corn, or
pull the plow—just as it -did, perhaps, in
Scripture days, for it was called into the
service of man long before the horse.

In South America it is used for almost
every kind of traffic. In eastern Turke-
stan it is to be met with wooden crates
full of melons attached to its saddle; in
Sicily trotting into town with a monk
astride; and in England, to this day, a
considerable number of donkeys are em-
ployed to carry the mails in remote parts
of Cornwall.

Lucky are those donkeys which are
kept as pets and only expected to draw

ON THE ROAD TO MARKET IN MEXICO CITY

This Mexican peon and his pack-donkey are on their way to the market in Mexico City,
where it is possible to buy anything from flowers and fresh vegetables to beautiful leather-
• work and big sombreros like the one the man is wearing. The donkey looks more well-fed
than its master, who, like most peons, leads a hand-to-mouth existence.

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